Former White House counsel spokesman Ian Sams tells Oversight Committee he saw no evidence President Biden could not perform duties; disputes parts of Hur's 202

Ian Sams, who served as a spokesman in the White House counsel’s office from May 2022 through August 2024, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Aug. 21, 2025, that "nothing in my experience at the White House or in my interactions with the president indicated that he was anything other than able to execute the duties of his office." Sams made the remarks during a transcribed interview requested by Chairman James Comer as part of the committee's inquiry into President Joe Biden's fitness to serve and related questions arising from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report.

Sams said he met the president “a handful of times” and that his interactions were infrequent. "When I deal with him, he is sharp," Sams told committee counsel, describing his assessments as limited to those personal meetings. He said he did not travel on Air Force One or Marine One with the president, did not attend the daily senior 8 a.m. staff meeting, and generally had an "external-facing" communications role that involved responding to reporters and coordinating with legal advisers and the White House press office.

Why it matters: The committee is probing whether White House staff or others directed or took executive actions without the president's authorization and is examining how the president's physical or cognitive health may have affected decision-making and communications. Sams' testimony provides firsthand context about who in the White House handled communications about the special counsel investigation and how officials interpreted and responded to the Hur…